And life continues to surprise. On and often we encounter such moments which send chills down the spine. They make you feel something. Something which could not be described, for which the words might fall short. The closest we can say is..a Learning. This is one of the encounters I had on one day.
It was an "unusal" day for me, as it started very early in the morning, 4:30 am. With my standards of waking up in the "morning", it was still mid-night. Reason? We were supposed to be the one among the crowd of thousands thronging to be face-to-face with one of Mumbai's famous deities - "Lalbaugh cha Raja", the almighty Ganesha, supposed to be the "Wish Granter". As it was going to be the last day of Ganesh Utsav, we made a point to visit the Lord, so that some of our "wishes" may be granted. Also, there was a zest to see the grandeur for which the venue is famous for. Well, we started fine, reached well, joined the queue among the thousands, prayed to the Lord, snapped a couple of pictures, and started back home. No, This is not what all I wanted to share to be the "learning". Like everyone reading this, even I was informed that the "Moral of the story" was yet to come.
Me, with my wife were to board a local train back to where my home is. We boarded one of the coaches in the train, and realized later that it was meant for handicapped. But, there I met with my greatest surprise in life. A few seconds after we had boarded and got a seat for ourselves entered four members of a family. A young boy of around ten years, followed by his father, followed by his mother, carrying their youngest daughters in her arms. They seated in front of us, and the train started moving. . It took me few seconds to realize the uniqueness of the family. Both the kids were one of the kinds every parent would like to have. Very charming daughter, and a caring son. Add to it, they both were too beautiful. And now the strangest part... both the parents were ..BLIND !!!!
So, when they boarded the train, it was like the game of train we used to play while we were kids...one holding the shoulder of the other in front, and the front one guiding them like the engine. Father holding son's shoulders, mother that of father while the daughter was still in her arms. Both of us just looked at each other, and without uttering a word, again started looking at them. The son was talking to his father, uttering very slowly into his ears, while the mother was busy taking care of the daughter, also seated on the seat, between the father and the mother. They all started having some chips from a packet, sharing among all as if they are like everyone.
After some minutes, my wife broke the silence, asking me a question for which I did not have any answer, and I am sure nobody would have. How did they up bring their kids? There are so many things that need to be done for that..right from giving the right place to sleep to right food to eat. But probably that is the "survial of the fittest"..being described in our science text books in school days. I was just wondering the skills of the woman while she would be cooking food. She surely would be using some tricks to cook her food. Might be smell or something.
For next 20-25 minutes, both of us were silent, thinking of the family and one very important fact. Did the parents knew what they posses? Do they know they have one of the most beautiful daughters in the words with blue-eyes; and so was the young boy. So confident as if he can take care of the family and can guide them on the right track. How many families would be there in Mumbai itself, just waiting to shower all their love for a kind they long for so long, and are constantly visiting multiple doctors, innumerable gods and goddesses for their wishes to be granted, just waiting for that to happen so that their just aim in life would be fulfilled. And there was sitting one family before us, having those wishes, but they could not comprehend the wealth they posses. We have read in school days... Early to bed , Early to rise..makes man healthy, wealthy and wise. The statement was coming true.
My wife said a statement which could make a mind healthy, if not body... "We keep struggling for petty things... See them... What do they have? Everything , but nothing. We are so engrossed in our petty pains that we are miles apart from gross sufferings people have. Ours is just a smallest particle in front of them". Secondly these incidents, if you posses those eyes and mind to read, give you the biggest wealth in life... Containment in what we have. If you can look, touch, communicate and hear things you have, you have the wordly wealth. Offcourse money is a means to cherish it. But their is no end to accumulation, and in that, we tend to forget to cherish what we already have.
But this is beyond "Being Human". Every human needs two things...which the next person has, and the other which the next person does not have. And that is all driving the world today. We finally came back home, and thought we have got the blessings already. We were made to realize we should thank him for what he has given us. For what we don't have, life is still there. Keep the hopes alive !!!
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